


Partner: Path Unlocked

by Olivka_96



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Android Gavin Reed, But they get better, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Is a Good Bro, Det. Richard 'Nines' Stern, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, GV900 goes by Gavin, Gavin Reed is a Little Shit, Human Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nines has trust issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Personal Growth, Strong Language, They are both assholes, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name, probably grafic depiction of injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23822341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olivka_96/pseuds/Olivka_96
Summary: "Come again?""You heard me, Stern."Fowler looked unamused, well, ditto for Richard over here. Android partner. What kind of elaborate prank was that? Connor might have set an unexpected trend with his hairy plastic nanny, but Richard wanted no part in that. First of all he worked best alone – that was a proven fact. And secondly the whole mess with android revolution happened barely four months ago, when he and Connor were both assigned to investigate and hunt deviants."No, I am not ready to trust one of those plastic dolls to have my back just because they suddenly decided they have a personality. You can give another one to Connor; he'll know what to do with it, with his experience."
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 6
Kudos: 116





	Partner: Path Unlocked

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write reverse!Reed900 for a while and recent Detroit: Evolution fan-film gave me the creative boost I apparently needed. There is going to be chapter 2 more Reed900 oriented but I needed to get the introductions out of the way and I am a huge fan of RK900 being soft for his brother Connor, so their interaction takes a huge chunk of this chapter. English is not my native language, but I hope it's not too bad. Interesting ideas, headcanons and constructive criticism is welcome in the comments!

"Come again?"

"You heard me, Stern."

Fowler looked unamused, well, ditto for Richard over here. Android partner. What kind of elaborate prank was that? Connor might have set an unexpected trend with his hairy plastic nanny, but Richard wanted no part in that. First of all he worked best alone – that was a proven fact. And secondly the whole mess with android revolution happened barely four months ago, when he and Connor were both assigned to investigate and hunt deviants. Nines worked closely with the FBI, while Connor got a toy from the brainiacs in Cyberlife – a brand new super fancy prototype, allegedly incorruptible, and yet it still somehow managed to catch the deviancy and even broke into the Cyberlife facility, 'freeing' every android there. Fucked by their own creation, oh, the sweet irony. But initial amusement aside, the whole situation was fucking scary to think about. To see the product of your life's work, the things you put your trust, knowledge and resources into suddenly turn on you like that; it's the worst that could happen to anyone in Nines' opinion. So.

"No, I am not ready to trust one of those plastic dolls to have my back just because they suddenly decided they have a personality. You can give another one to Connor; he'll know what to do with it, with his experience."

Nines didn't even pretend to flinch at Fowler's deep scowl. He still resolutely ignored the android standing at the back of the captain's office, studying him this whole time.

"Well aren't you just a fucking peach!"

That response came so suddenly, even Fowler had to visibly do a double take. The android. That whole sentence just came from a plastic prick. Nines was so shocked, he actually turned to look at it. 

Well, what do you know; apparently 'Hank'…HK800 wasn't the only android with a very distinct design. What's with Cyberlife's recent obsession with hyper realism? The plastic looked too human, if Nines didn't know any better, he would have easily mistaken it for an actual person. A very rugged-looking middle-aged man, who hadn't slept or shaved in days, if the dark circles under his eyes and an unkempt stubble were anything to go by, and judging by the very real looking scars on his nose and jawline Nines would say he'd been in a fight or two. Its posture wasn't as stiff and prim as any androids Nines had seen before. He was slouched against a wall, arms crossed – a picture of nonchalance. The android looked so human, Nines involuntarily addressed it as 'he' in his head, but it only took a second look at its distinctly Cyberlife uniform and a working LED on the right temple to realize that nope, not a human after all. What a giant mindfuck. Richard decided he was tired of looking at the android and turned back to Fowler, without acknowledging the previous remark.

Captain let out a deep long-suffering sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Nines would probably feel a bit of remorse for being the evident source of his headache, but he still found the idea of being partnered up with a plastic utterly ridiculous, so anyone who was forcing it on him should get no sympathy whatsoever.

"Richard Stern, I am only going to repeat this one more time. And that's not a fucking discussion. GV900 is assigned as your partner from this day forward. He is a model specifically designed for investigative and police work. Moreover that's what he wants to do. God knows, we are going to need all the help we can get to sort out all the mess left after these past few months; we don't have the luxury of any kind of discrimination. Now, you and Connor are two of my best, so either you get your shit together, or leave your badge and gun on my desk right now." 

Fuck. To say that Richard felt humiliated was an understatement. Fowler actually stooped so low as to pull out his full name and lecture him, like he was a naughty toddler who refused to play nice with other kids. 'Kid' in this case being a 5'9 ft piece of metal and circuits, which apparently always wanted to be a cop, and what’s more had all the necessary programing and junk for that. Great, as if Nines needed any more reason to be paranoid around his new partner. 

He overpowered the urge to take Fowler up on his offer and actually submit his resignation then and there, only because quitting would have hurt his professional pride even more than agreeing to babysit a walking toaster with aspirations of greatness. From the corner of his eye Nines saw the prick smirking smugly. Fowler still watched him with a heavy scowl. Nope, he wouldn't give either of them the satisfaction of backing down from a challenge.  
He stood straighter, hands behind his back, jaw set hard, and said, or spat more like.

"Yes. Sir."

Then left the office without so much as a second glance at the android or Fowler.

****

He needed a cup of coffee after that whole shitshow.

The precinct kitchen was unoccupied at the moment, small mercy. Nines loaded the coffeemaker with a less shitty brew from a secret stash he made a week ago, and stood there, by the counter, waiting for the pot to heat up.

"Stress drinking, really? From that permanent stone-wall look on your face didn't think you'd be the type."

The same voice, the same smug tone. Richard closed his eyes asking whoever was listening for patience and cursing them at the same time. For fuck's sake, two minutes of privacy, was that too much to ask? It was bad enough they forced an unchecked deviant on him, this one apparently turned into a full blown asshole, once the leash was off. It would be a miracle if Nines didn't pull a trigger on it in the next 24 hours. Nines turned towards the voice and was only mildly shocked to find a familiar pair of eyes staring at him from just a few steps away; a lot closer than he originally estimated. So it could move this quick and without making a sound. The rational part of Richard's brain actually thought how such an impressive skill would be really useful in the field, the other, more biased and pissed part of him thought it was fucking creepy, and that's exactly why you don't turn your back on an android. Thankfully, that whole thought process only took a couple of seconds before he managed to find his voice.

"First of all, sneak up on me again and even Fowler won't save you from a bullet in the head. And secondly, last time I checked my drinking habits were none of your concern."

"Jesus, that stick up your ass must really sting! It was just a way to start a conversation. Don't they teach you humans how to make friends in like kindergarten?"

"Friends?"

Nines actually felt his eyebrows fly all the way up on his forehead and had to school his features back into neutrality.

"Listen, GV900-"

"I prefer Gavin."

"Whatever. Making 'friends' with you, even if both of us were on the same page about what that actually means, would be the last thing on my list of priorities. At this point, even basic manners seem beyond your comprehension."

"Pff…The fuck does that mean? You expected a curtsy at the captain's office or something?"

GV900 actually furrowed his very expressive eyebrows at that. Damn those kinky bastards at Cyberlife who decided to make an android this human-like just to fuck with people's heads. Nines was ashamed to admit it was working too well on him. He decided it's safer to focus on android's words instead of its face.

"I don't expect anything from you GV900. And you sneaking up on me like that tells me I shouldn't expect anything good going forward." 

"Wait, so you are butthurt that my footsteps were not loud enough for you to hear? Wow, so it's not just an unfortunate name, you are a real dick."

Nines couldn't actually remember the last time he got this pissed off. It wasn't the foul mouth that did this though; honestly, Nines'd heard worse; more the android’s overall brash dismissiveness of being considered a threat. Like Nines was retarded for even thinking that GV900's stealth, superior strength and in-and-out knowledge of police system could ever be dangerous. After all the shit he'd seen androids pull in the name of freedom. That was the biggest insult. Nines grabbed the android by the collar and towered over it, too angry to savor the brief look of genuine shock in GV's eyes, its LED glowing red. 

"Listen here you plastic-"

"Nines!? What is this!"

Connor. Fuck. Richard forced himself to take a breath and eventually let go of GV's collar, stepping back to the counter. His brother stood by the door, lips dipped in a concerned frown, eyes searching. Nines hated that look, and usually was the primary cause for it.

GV muttered some stifled curse and fixed his shirt.

"By the way, Captain Fowler has a case for us, you dipshit. I'll wait at the terminal. But I get bored easily, so don't get too long, or I'll solve it without you."

The android side-stepped Connor and left without another word. Enough of those were said already. Richard suddenly felt bone-tired. Connor moved further into the kitchen and stood next to him, still looking worried.

"So. What in the world was that?"

"My new partner, according to Captain Fowler. We now have matching accessories, Connor, isn't it great?"

Connor didn't appreciate the joke it seemed. Typical.

"And you wanted to kill your partner on the first day?"

Richard closed his eyes in lieu of an answer and let out a heavy sigh.

"What I wanted was coffee."

Speaking of… it was actually ready. Richard took a cup from the cupboard. At his silent question Connor just shook his head negative; more for him then.

"Coffee and a few minutes of blessed silence, is that too much to ask?"

Connor gave him a small smile.

"No, we know you can't function without those. So, what happened? He interrupted your coffee break?"

"Something like that."

Nines took a sip of his coffee. He suddenly felt a little stupid after the fact. Mostly because of how easily it got to him. Usually he was better at ignoring petty attempts to get a rise out of him. Connor was still watching him expectantly, but in truth Richard didn’t know what to tell him. All of his concerns were valid, but he didn’t make a habit of sharing them with the others unless directly relevant to the task at hand. Nines heard the phrases like ‘control kink’ and ‘deep-seated trust issues’ being thrown around, mostly by ‘Hank’ fuck him very much. Connor insisted on ‘proper pronoun’ so yeah, that prick begrudgingly became a ‘he’. Still the less time Nines spent around him the better, it was clear the feeling was mutual.

"I am not a fan of the whole ‘get yourself a mandatory robo-puppy’ trend." - Nines said eventually.

Connor was silent for a few moments then replied with a small huff.

"You’ve never had a problem with androids at the precinct, what’s so special about this one?"

"This one is supposed to be my ‘partner’, watch my back, like that’s ever going to happen."

"It won’t if you don’t give him a chance. What’s the worst that could happen?"

Nines turned to him with a most exasperated ‘Are you kidding me?’ look on his face.

"Excuse me, weren’t you the one left hanging from a rooftop while your ‘partner’ chose to chase a suspect that self-destructed anyway instead of helping you out, and weren’t you the one who almost got shot in that damn Cyberlife tower? You don’t get to give me that ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ bullshit."

Connor visibly faltered and frowned taking a moment to answer.

"That…Hank was a different story. He wasn’t deviant when we first met, he was programmed to hunt deviants and prioritize his mission over anything else. Me being his partner actually changed that."

Nines let out a breath, recognizing some truth in that. Still he didn’t feel any more comfortable about his current situation.

"Nines, listen, like it or not, they are people now. Not human but sentient living feeling creatures none the less. They fought for their right to be free, like any sane person would, and we should recognize that-"

"I do. You don’t have to lecture me about tolerance Connor. But deviancy is a new concept. It’s unexplored and unpredictable, you can’t tell me to just relax and go with the flow. How can I trust a person, if I cannot predict how they are going to react when things go south? It’s not a walk in the park."

"Why not start by getting to know them? Honestly, this whole deviancy thing is most certainly as new to androids as it is to us. We may not be the only ones scared or confused or mistrustful. But at least, unlike them, we had our whole lives to figure out emotions and be in touch with them. Well…most of us anyway."

Nines could hear the smirk in his brother’s voice without looking at him, the little shit. He hid his own smile behind the brim of a cup.

"All right, I’ll give him a week."


End file.
